SAVANNAH, Ga. (January 6, 2014) Armstrong Atlantic State University will continue its year-long series, “A Moveable Feast,” in 2014 with three lectures and one live performance. All events are free and open to the public.
The series will feature monthly lectures and performances by distinguished Armstrong faculty from the university’s College of Liberal Arts as well as special guest lecturers. Events are held in a variety of historic venues throughout Savannah.
The goal of “A Moveable Feast” is to celebrate the vital role of the liberal arts in everyday life. The “Moveable Feast” series offers the Savannah community the opportunity to learn from some of Armstrong’s leading professors.
The calendar of upcoming “Moveable Feast” events for 2014 is as follows:
Thursday, January 30 - 6 p.m.
“Uncanny Homes in American Fiction,” lecture by Laura Barrett, professor of English and dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Armstrong
Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, 207 E. Charlton St.
When author Henry James returned to his native land after a nearly 30-year absence, he remarked that he felt dispossessed and alienated, as if there were “a ghost in his supposedly safe old house.” What James describes is a sense of the uncanny, defined by Freud as the familiar made strange. Building intersections between theory and art, Barrett will discuss how turn-of-the-century American literature—rife with haunted houses and eerie doubles—reveals an uncanny moment in American history, one in which concepts of home and self were in flux.
Tuesday, February 25 – 6 p.m.
Keynote address: “What is College For? The Future of American Education,” lecture by Andrew Delbanco, Mendelson Family Chair of American Studies and Julian Clarence Levi, Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University
Temple Mickve Israel, 20 E. Gordon St.
In this lecture, Delbanco will argue that as the commercialization of American higher education accelerates, more and more students are coming to college with the narrow aim of obtaining a pre-professional credential. His address will emphasize how a traditional four-year college experience—an exploratory time for students to discover their passions and test ideas and values with the help of teachers and peers—is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. Arguing for what a true college education should be, this talk will encourage us to remember why making a strong liberal arts education available to as many young people as possible remains central to America's democratic promise.
Thursday, March 27 – 6 p.m.
“Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America,” lecture by Ella Howard, assistant professor of History at Armstrong
Georgia Historical Society, 501 Whitaker St.
During the twentieth century, many homeless Americans lived on skid rows, the best known of which was New York City's Bowery. Such spaces became more than urban poverty zones. Over time, they came to define the people who lived there. As she draws upon her training in humanities-based historical research, Howard will lend insight into the meaning of homelessness and poverty in twentieth-century America and offer a new perspective on the modern welfare system.
Thursday, April 24 – 7 p.m.
Live performance by Emily Grundstad-Hall, assistant professor of Music at Armstrong
Armstrong’s Fine Arts Auditorium, 11935 Abercorn St.
For the final course of “A Moveable Feast,” the musical program will be held at Armstrong’s recently renovated Fine Arts Auditorium where Grundstad-Hall, a soprano, will perform works by Schubert, Schumann, Bach, Debussy, Puccini and Mozart. Also featured on the program will be Dominick Argento’s, “Letters from Composers,” with Brian Luckett on guitar. A reception and final toast to living the life of the mind and the spirit to the fullest will follow the performance.
ABOUT ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE UNIVERSITY:
Armstrong Atlantic State University, part of the University System of Georgia, was founded in 1935. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate academic programs in the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Technology, the College of Education and the College of Health Professions. Armstrong Atlantic serves approximately 7,100 students at its main campus in Savannah and a regional center in Hinesville. Its diverse student population comes from 44 states, the District of Columbia and 71 countries. For more information, visit www.armstrong.edu.